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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27666137">best of all possible worlds</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/phraseme/pseuds/morphological'>morphological (phraseme)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tokyo Babylon, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, X -エックス- | X/1999</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dimension Travel, Random Encounters, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Spoilers, Talking To Dead People</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:49:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,215</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27666137</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/phraseme/pseuds/morphological</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p><i>the best plan is not always that which seeks to avoid evil, since it may happen that the evil is accompanied by a greater good.</i> -- a solution to the problem of evil, gottfried leibniz.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Yuletide 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>best of all possible worlds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/gryvon/gifts">gryvon</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He had to admit: it wasn't what he'd expected. Dimension-hopping, time travelling, whatever people called it—in all the paths he'd walked, he hadn't thought he'd see this one. She'd caught his eye from across the street with the way she walked, head held high under her bright pink beret.</p><p>In the course of several lives, Sumeragi Hokuto had been a powerful dreamseer; the wife of a corporate chairman's youngest son; an inept practitioner with limited tricks; a flashy conjurer capable of producing small spells with a tube of Chanel lipstick. Her once-death at Seishirou's hands did little to stymie her abilities—her spirit slipped past the barrow guard into the dreamscape—beyond his grasp in that dimension. In this world (the fifth or fifteenth, perhaps, Seishirou had lost count) she was alive and well, although her magical signature was different. She was, as far as he could tell, the Sumeragi and the north star. Like and yet unlike.</p><p>Seishirou found something in every dimension that reminded him of the time before. He'd purchased a cappuccino at a cafe he recognized two worlds ago, only to find the drink was as well-made as the other. At times, he almost expected a familiar landscape to rise up: a red and white tower, the cars and roaring trains of his home city—as if he had come back to the start after his years of wandering. He still blended in with the passersby, and she still did not. The pink-hatted figure paused, and Seishirou knew with a predator's confidence that she too had spotted him.</p><p>The void-illusion would mask the spiritual firefight, but it would also reveal his powers—a risk with little reward. If she was half the practitioner her brother had been, she would not forgive it easily. The weight of her aura suggested as much, and the center of it moved with her as she crossed the street. Her hot pink shoes clicked on the pavement until she stopped before him. Seishirou wondered if this world would have his preferred brand of cigarettes.</p><p>"Hello, Hokuto-chan." The startled shade of emerald green was also the same.</p><p>"I'm sorry, do we know each other?" The girl laughed, coquettish and loud, but her half-moon eyes did not leave his face. Seishirou briefly admires them (although he did not covet them in the same way. If Seishirou wanted Subaru-kun for his eyes, he would have kept them in a jar).</p><p>"We've never met." Seishirou didn't phrase it as a question. It was funny, the way one could slip into old habits—even if they weren't his own. "But, if such a pretty lady has some time to spare before her next job," he offered her his arm, "I know a lovely ice cream parlor just around the block."</p><p>Seishirou barely registered her subtle attempt to read his aura. His magic would protect him from at least that, and the Sumeragi gift would make such an effort comparable to a sledgehammer cracking open walnuts. She took his arm, her smile still not quite reaching her eyes. "Well, if such a handsome gentleman is the one asking," she said, and Seishirou matched his gait to walk with her.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>She ordered pistachio while Seishirou dutifully worked at his strawberry. There was a fairly decent chance that she would pick a different flavor in every world he encountered her.</p><p>"How do you know I have a job in this neighborhood, Sakurazuka-san?" She pointed an accusatory spoon in his direction. "You don't seem like the stalking type."</p><p>Seishirou laughed; he missed her frankness. "I'm looking for someone," he allowed. "Someone very special."</p><p>"Oho! A lover?" Hokuto's eyes glittered, and the faint trace of Sumeragi magic thickened in the air. Seishirou had never been interested in the magic aspect of any Subaru or Hokuto he encountered. The magic was entirely secondary; it was the potent blend of innocence and feral power that interested him the most. She waved her spoon in the air, the gesture all the more dramatic made by her violently pink gloves.</p><p>"Nothing so scandalous." Seishirou lowered his voice to a whisper. It would be better if he could erase the memory of this encounter, but he was no stranger to misdirection and subterfuge. "I suppose you could call us soulmates." Hokuto's eyes widened.</p><p>Seishirou had, in other worlds, seen himself (or his not-self) mark Subaru-kun with blood. A pentacle carved into his skin, a gentle kiss against the backs of his fragile hands: they tracked Subaru-kun everywhere, and Seishirou wished more than once he might have done that to the vampire. He searched for Subaru-kun through the dimension portal feather, and where the random pathways led he would follow, the faint impression of Subaru-kun's fangs long since healed and the blood he'd drunk replenished years ago. Still, in the places where Subaru-kun had previously been, or when they were in the same dimension at all, it sang to him in his veins.</p><p>In another life, at another time, they might have passed for intentional markings. The ones his not-self left on Subaru-kun were such: things that warded off others, clearly designated Subaru-kun as spoken for on Seishirou's behalf. They drew him to Seishirou across time and space, the pattern unfolding like a flower. But Seishirou did not have his, and preferred to be the master of his own fate. His Subaru-kun would be deathless, and in exchange he would bear no marks.</p><p>"How exciting!" Hokuto looked enthralled, and Seishirou acted the part of an embarrassed young man. "Do you have a picture?"</p><p>The siren call did not beat under his skin; Subaru-kun was not in this world. He had either died or was never born into it to start—the longer he stayed in that dimension, the surer he became. "No, I don't." Seishirou gave her a sheepish grin, false but well-practiced. "But, well … Black hair, thin, almost petite. Used to work in a similar field as you. Mid-twenties, serious but kind. Bright green eyes."</p><p>"Ah," Hokuto sighed dreamily. "Sounds like I have a twin somewhere." She looked at Seishirou then, and winked. "I'm sorry to disappoint you."</p><p>"No, no," Seishirou chuckled. "Don't we all have a twin, or a lookalike? I've heard people say that it's bad luck to meet your doppelganger."</p><p>Hokuto glanced down at her wrist, her watch's magenta band blending into the pink gloves. "Then I wish you nothing but good luck," she laughed. "And hope there's some left over for me. My appointment will think I'm late!"</p><p>"I'll take care of the rest then." Seishirou stood up to say goodbye. Perhaps Subaru-kun was in the next world, or the world beyond. "Thank you for your time today."</p><p>"No, thank you!" Hokuto beamed, and her expression softened. "I hope you find your soulmate soon. Good luck to that, too."</p><p>Seishirou watched her bound away, a bolt of pink in motion as she waved, offering him two gloved thumbs-up and one last smile. There would be nothing for him here but ghosts, a chance at a possibility that was already withered. Seishirou wore the false smile until Hokuto turned around, went back where she belonged in the world.</p><p>The feather would send him along soon enough, predator-turned-prey on the hunt again. "We make our own luck, Hokuto-chan."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>for christmas the grinch's heart grows three sizes and sei-chan experiences one (1) emotion</p><p>happy yuletide to my dear recipient! your prompt had me daydreaming for weeks TTT hope your new year is a very pleasant one despite (because of??) the tokyo babylon 2021 reboot.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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